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In The Valley: The Revivalists' Zack Feinberg Talks New Album

Last Friday (7.17), rising New Orleans rockers, The Revivalists, released their new album Men Amongst Mountains. Coming in on the heels of their previous album, City of Sound, Men Amongst Mountains has a more live sound, with most of the songs having been recorded with the entire band in the same room. While on the long drive from Nashville to Gainesville, Zack Feinberg, The Revivalists’ guitarist and one of the band’s founders, had a chance to chat with NoDef about the new album and what’s next for the band.

With the release of the new album only a few days ago, the band has been really excited by the outpouring of support from their fans.

“It’s been a really positive reaction thus far,” Feinberg remarked. “It’s always nice to get a compliment, and people have been texting us and posting things online. It’s encouraging and nice when there’s a positive response like this.”

The Revivalists are currently embarking on a nationwide tour in support of Men Amongst Mountains. It’s tours like these that give the band the experience and inspiration they need in order to develop.

“We’re three years older and three years more experienced [than on the other albums], so that’s like 600 or more shows experience,” Feinberg said. “On City of Sound, the previous record, we wanted to get a really studio sound. We used some of those techniques on [Men Amongst Mountains], but generally, it’s sounds more live.”

They played their first big show after the album release this past Saturday (7.18) in Louisville at the city’s Forecastle Festival.

“I don’t know if it was just the time slot or the buzz from the album being dropped, but it was a massive crowd that afternoon,” Feinberg said. “So, that was a really promising outcome.”

Inspiration is everywhere for the band, Feinberg said. But that doesn’t mean that traveling cross-country with eight men is always easy, fun or inspiring.

“It’s certainly challenging. It’s a lot of time in close quarters with eight other dudes. It’s a trying thing, and it’s a beautiful thing. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s something that can kind of gnaw at you,” Feinberg laughed. “It’s important to be able to keep your sense of individuality amongst the collective. It’s sometimes hard, but everybody is trying to be respectful of each other as much as they can. We have a lot of fun with each other for the most part.”

After being on the road a lot, the band always loves a chance to come back home to New Orleans, which they will do for the next time on August 1 at Tipitina’s.

“I think in a way, I’ll put more pressure on myself personally playing in New Orleans, because I know that there are so many good musicians,” Feinberg said. “We’ve gathered a reputation for being a good live band, so playing in front of these other famous guys that might be in the audience in New Orleans can be slightly intimidating, but it’s best not to think about that stuff and just have fun with it and give it all you’ve got everyday.”

And Feingberg noted that they’ll give it their all whether they’re playing here in New Orleans or anywhere else in the country.

“I could talk for days about how incredible live music in New Orleans is, but we’re going to bring it the same every night no matter where we are,” he said.

The band doesn’t have their next album planned yet, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t already thinking about it.

“We’re a band of seven guys and everyone is always writing, and everyone has ideas,” Feinberg said. “There’s always stuff developing individually for every person and as a group collectively.”